AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: MARINERS v YANKEES

October 13, 2000

Paul Abbott

PAUL ABBOTT: People are awfully noisy. (Laughter.) This time it will be different because we are home. Chicago, those people were pulling for the other team, and they were awfully loud. Really, it's just another game, the routine I've been sticking to all year and that's basically what I tried to do all week leading up to it and that's what I'm trying to do to get ready for tomorrow.

PAUL ABBOTT: No. (Smiles).

PAUL ABBOTT: Actually, that was on the after-burners. Main thing was to get healthy. Rehab from various injuries, and just try to get back to the big leagues. So post-season was not really the goal; just to get to this point, and fortunately I got to be with a team as talented as the Mariners.

PAUL ABBOTT: No, because we were playing in the last two weeks in must-win situations. My last two starts were against Oakland and Anaheim, and they were playoff-type games. And in Chicago, obviously, if you don't win that series, you don't get to here. It's all the same. Same intensity, same anxiety, same everything.

PAUL ABBOTT: Exactly. Cherry on top. Everything. If I had not pitched well in 1998 after my elbow surgery, I would not have had a chance to come back from my knee surgery last year, and if I didn't pitch well last year, I wouldn't be asked back to pitch this whole year. So yeah, those starts were probably a little bit bigger than these, really.

PAUL ABBOTT: I really don't think about it, because -- what I do think about is the rehab. Coming back from those injuries taught me a lot. Work habits -- I didn't have the best work habits when I was younger. So I may have if I would have floundered like I did in Triple-A maybe. I would have learned a little quicker. But definitely coming back from those made me stronger, as an individual, not taking things for granted. Some day, obviously everybody has to quit playing sometime.

PAUL ABBOTT: Absolutely. I wouldn't have been -- had my first full year at 33 years old, I know there's for sure. No, I was 32 all year. (Laughter.)

PAUL ABBOTT: I think they kind of mirror our lineup. Without Canseco or Glenallen Hill in the lineup, really, the power threats are not as great. Like us, they need to put the ball in play, make things happen, score runs. So a lot different than the White Sox, a lot different from the A's. They are going to bunt, they are going to move the runners up and try to make things happen. Mainly just make sure you throw strikes and get ahead and not put guys on base and give them an opportunity to do that.

PAUL ABBOTT: I'm waiting for the process to ditch the Journeyman title. Been like that for the last three years. (Laughs).

PAUL ABBOTT: Well, if you ask the hitters, they definitely want it closed. Pitchers definitely want it open. There's a lot more elements obviously with the roof open. You get more of the wind currents, and the ball -- you get more of the air outside there, and the ball doesn't travel as well or as far. A little bit more hitter-friendly. It's still a great pitcher's park, regardless, but the ball does travel a little bit better.